Factbox - Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett at a glance

FILE PHOTO: Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, smiles before speaking with Bill Gates (not pictured), at Columbia University in New York, U.S., January 27, 2017.Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, will this weekend welcome thousands of people from around the world to Omaha, Nebraska, for the conglomerate's annual shareholder gathering, the largest in corporate America.

The three-day weekend, which Buffett calls "Woodstock for Capitalists," includes shopping discounts, a five-kilometre run, a cocktail reception that consumes a shopping mall, and Berkshire's annual meeting on May 6. The meeting will be webcast on Yahoo Finance, in English and Mandarin.

-Major stock investments: American Express, Apple, Coca-Cola, IBM, Kraft Heinz, Wells Fargo. Berkshire has also taken big stakes in the four largest U.S. airlines: American, Delta, Southwest and United Continental. It also has a roughly $11.5 billion paper gain from warrants in Bank of America.

-A failed acquisition: Dexter Shoe, $434 million (1993) (Buffett says he used Berkshire stock now worth roughly $6.3 billion to buy a business whose value "promptly went to zero")

-Employees at year end: 367,671

-Employees in main office: 25, including Buffett

-Succession: Buffett, 86, and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 93, have not publicly signalled any plans to retire. Buffett has said Berkshire's board has a succession plan it could implement in fewer than 24 hours.

-Potential successors: Investors view Berkshire insurance executive Ajit Jain and Berkshire Hathaway Energy chief Gregory Abel as top candidates to become chief executive. BNSF Chairman Matthew Rose is also a potential candidate. Buffett's investing lieutenants Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, who together recently managed $21 billion, may take over as chief investment officer. Buffett's eldest son Howard is expected to become non-executive chairman, and work to preserve Berkshire's culture. Buffett protégé Tracy Britt Cool, 32, chairs several Berkshire units and is chief executive of Pampered Chef.

ATTENDANCE AT BERKSHIRE ANNUAL MEETINGS

1965: 12

1979: about 24

1986: 1,000

1995: 4,100

1997: 7,700

2000: 13,000

2005: 21,000

2015: 40,000+

2016: 37,000 (meeting was webcast for first time; 1.1 million unique online visits were logged in real time)

Buffett's takeover of Berkshire: Buffett planned in 1965 to sell back his shares in Berkshire, then a struggling textile company, for $11.50 each. But he got angry when the term sheet showed a price of just $11.375 per share. Buffett instead bought all the shares he could, and took control on May 10, 1965. The textile business closed in 1985.

Year when Buffett met Charlie Munger: 1959

Munger's influence: Though Buffett and Munger admire famed investor Benjamin Graham, Buffett has credited Munger with pushing him to focus on buying wonderful companies at fair prices, rather than fair companies at wonderful prices.

Famous Buffett quotation: "Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless." - Sept. 4, 1991 Congressional testimony about Salomon Inc, where Buffett became interim chairman to restore order after a Treasury auction bidding scandal.

Current wife: Astrid Menks, married on August 30, 2006

First wife: Susan, who died in 2004

Children: Susan, Howard and Peter

Philanthropy: Buffett has since 2006 donated more than $24.3 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities, after pledging 85 percent of his net worth to them. His Berkshire stock will go to philanthropy after he dies.

Home: Has lived in the same house since 1958. The 96-year-old, 10-room, five-bedroom, 2-1/2-bath home on 0.72 acres was assessed at $730,800 in 2017. (Source: Douglas County, Nebraska)